Business Plan 2025-26

It is my pleasure to present the 2025-26 Business Plan for the Office of Drug Control (ODC). This plan outlines our strategic priorities and operational focus for the financial year. Our vision remains anchored in effective regulation, preventing the diversion of controlled drugs, including narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, for illicit supply and use. We contribute to safeguarding the health of the Australian community through our oversight of controlled drugs, the medicinal cannabis industry, and Government initiatives such as the kava pilot program and the regulation of vaping products.

Our work ensures Australia meets its international obligations under the 3 key international drug treaties, underpinning the safety and well-being of our community. We demonstrate our commitment to the international drug treaties and conventions by meeting all reporting timeframes for internationally controlled drugs. The ODC maintains strong relationships with the International Narcotics Control Board and overseas National Authorities to support the operation of these drug treaties. 

In 2024-25 the ODC delivered several key achievements that have strengthened our regulatory capability and stakeholder engagement, including:

• completing 33 compliance inspections, exceeding our target of 30

• delivering 94% of inspection outcome reports within the targeted 2-month timeframe, supporting timely feedback and reducing the administrative and operational impact on licensed businesses

• delivering a compliance campaign focusing on section 20 of the Narcotic Drugs Regulation 2016, reinforcing notification obligations for licence and permit holders
• completing 23% more applications under the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 compared to the previous year, and
• issuing 2,555 licences and permits for vaping goods.

We have worked closely with medicinal cannabis importers to reduce the number of permit applications that resulted in unused permits. This practice by importers had resulted in significant processing delays and impacted the management of the national cannabis quota. Our efforts led to a 46% reduction in applications, providing importers with a clearer understanding of regulations relating to the import of medicinal cannabis. This has also freed up staff time to process required permit applications.

As always, we remain dedicated to meaningful engagement with our stakeholders. Last year, we strengthened stakeholder engagement through consistent and transparent communication. We will build on this by increasing opportunities for stakeholder input and leveraging feedback to refine our processes. This approach aligns with our broader business plan focusing on collaboration, continuous improvement, and responsiveness to stakeholder needs.

Artificial intelligence (AI) presents both opportunities and challenges for the regulation of medicinal cannabis and controlled drugs. The ODC, as part of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, is assessing and preparing for the impact of AI on our regulatory functions, ensuring our processes can adapt as needed. We are also carefully exploring how AI can support our evaluation and decision-making processes, with a focus on maintaining integrity, transparency and efficiency.

We are committed to improving the experience of our stakeholders when engaging with the ODC. Continued investment in the ODC’s Digital Transformation remains a key business priority. In 2024, we delivered the online portal and online forms to apply for Medicinal Cannabis Licences and Narcotic Drug Manufacture Licences. This work will continue in 2025-26, with an enhanced service layer and the introduction of more online forms, further improving both stakeholder experience and internal workflows for staff.

Our ongoing commitment to compliance activities remains a key priority, consistent with our broader business plan focus on collaboration, continuous improvement, and responsiveness to stakeholder needs. We work in partnership with Commonwealth, state and territory government and law enforcement agencies, to uphold integrity in the regulation of controlled drugs across Australia. In line with our dedication to meaningful stakeholder engagement, we also maintain direct communication with licence holders through targeted inspections and educational initiatives, supporting their understanding of regulatory requirements and helping them to meet their obligations. This approach ensures our compliance activities are risk-based, rigorous and consistently applied.

To foster continuous improvement in compliance and education across the sector, we will identify new opportunities and leverage stakeholder input to refine our processes. Our commitment to high regulatory standards and collaboration supports our role in protecting public health and advancing national health objectives. In our support for government initiatives, we will further consult with state and territory agencies on the future of kava policy and imports. The ODC remains dedicated to delivering risk-proportionate regulation, effectively managing risk while enabling licensed entities to operate efficiently. without unnecessary impediments.

The Regulatory Policy, Practice & Performance Framework developed by the Australian Government Department of Finance will continue to serve as the foundation for our regulatory activities. We will review and enhance our regulatory functions, processes, and framework to ensure they remain modern, efficient and responsive. This approach promotes productivity, minimises regulatory burden, and ensures our practices align with both international and domestic requirements, while upholding collaboration, transparency and best practice.

By building on our achievements and embracing innovation, we are strongly positioned to achieve our business plan objectives. This approach ensures the ongoing safety, accessibility and robust regulatory oversight of controlled substances for all Australians.

Professor Anthony Lawler
FACEM, FRACMA, MBBS, MBA (Health Mgmt), FIFEM, GAICD, BMedSci